Bertrande de Rols
It’s not that he scared me, exactly,
just that he didn’t see me, back then.
There were ghosts in the marriage
and I learned to keep my distance.
When he went, I left the windows open for weeks.
I left the windows open
and I was alone, keeping
my own counsel, and company,
the child, yes, but all grew
toward a kind of freedom,
there were the gardens, yes,
and the animals, there was enough,
and time, I grew rich with days,
and, you see, I didn’t miss him
at first, or then.